Mystery of Wrekin's missing ruby still unsolved

THE mysterious £11 million ruby involved in the collapse of Midland engineering firm Wrekin Construction has finally surfaced – but administrators say they are keeping it under lock and key until their investigation is concluded.

THE mysterious £11 million ruby involved in the collapse of Midland engineering firm Wrekin Construction has finally surfaced – but administrators say they are keeping it under lock and key until their investigation is concluded.

The existence and true value of the “Wrekin Ruby” has been the subject of much debate since the Shropshire construction firm collapsed on March 10.

Nearly 500 people lost their jobs at the firm just 24 hours after it was taken into administration by the Royal Bank of Scotland over unpaid bills. Originally a lot of anger was directed at the bank, especially after Wrekin claimed it had received orders worth £50million on the day RBS took it into administration. But it was later revealed that a large chunk of Wrekin’s finances had been based on its possession of a ruby supposedly known as the “Gem of Tanzania”, which the firm’s accounts claimed had been valued at £11 million. The ruby is recorded as having been bought by the company in exchange for £11 million worth of cumulative redeemable preference shares sold to Derbyshire firm Tamar Group.

The Istituto Gemmologico Italiano – which the Wrekin accounts claim valued the jewel – said it had no record of the gem, did not value jewels at the site mentioned and was not even open on the date mentioned by the Wrekin accounts.

The ruby, if its value is £11 million, would be several times as valuable as the most expensive ruby ever sold.

A spokesman for administrators Ernst & Young said: “The administrators have taken possession of the gemstone reported to be the Gem of Tanzania, which will be retained in secure storage while they continue with their inquiries in this regard. Until their inquires are complete they have no further comment.”